[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13923]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  (Mr. FARR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, California's the fifth largest economy in the 
world. One would think that the Republican administration would be 
paying attention to the economic indicators in California and realize 
that all is not well in the economy.
  Since President Bush took office, 1.9 million jobs have been lost. 
Californian unemployment remains above the national average, and one in 
10 persons in my District is unemployed. Jobs that have been created 
are low-paying and do not provide benefits such as health care and 
other important benefits.
  There is a direct link between getting a good education and getting a 
good job, but the ability to get that good education has been 
undermined by the inability to adequately fund the best higher 
education system in the United States, the California higher education 
system, because students are now being turned away. Eligible to get in, 
all the tests, all the ability to get in, but no room in the inn. Why? 
Because this administration has failed to adequately fund the Pell 
grants and Perkins loans for students to make education accessible.
  During the 1980s, we learned that voodoo economics did not stimulate 
the economy. Neither is hoodoo economics stimulating the economy today.

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